


TEXT ONLY - An Im Jaebeom One Shot

by Jb2ndMom



Category: GOT7
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-18
Updated: 2017-11-18
Packaged: 2019-06-26 14:44:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15665301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jb2ndMom/pseuds/Jb2ndMom
Summary: Jaebeom of GOT7 wants to complete his college degree, but taking classes on campus has been a challenge because of his schedule and popularity. Switching to an online class schedule, he finds himself in a class that requires on line collaboration with other students. To avoid detection, he works with the college to use a pseudonym. As an excuse not to join in video or voice chats, he explains to the professor that he has a Blackberry, limiting him to only texts and no video chats. One other student has the same phone.





	TEXT ONLY - An Im Jaebeom One Shot

 

Jaebeom sighed as he clicked through the available online classes at the college he attended. He'd always loved reading and had been a pretty good student. Having missed out on a traditional high school experience, he had looked forward to going to college like other students, but two things prevented this dream from coming to fruition as he resigned himself to distance learning instead.

First, there was his hectic schedule. GOT7 had become more popular and, as a natural consequence, busier. As leader he had extra duties in addition to the traditional concert tours, fan signing events, promotions, variety shows, magazine shoots, and other activities the other members also shared with him.

The second big issue was his rising popularity in Korea. This was a good thing as far as being an idol was concerned, and he wouldn't have changed that for the world, but when it came to attending classes it was a huge drawback. Every time he made it to class there were hordes of people blocking his way, talking to him while he was trying to study, and even the occasional professor would get totally derailed and veer off topic to focus the discussion around him. In short campus attendance was an unmitigated failure.

Despite these complications, Jaebeom's grades were excellent. He's been accepted into the honors program and afforded access to special classes with more individualized instruction, usually with only about 1 or 15 students per class, and room for creativity beyond that which was provided the run of the mill student. Resigning himself to the online course selection though was proving to be a challenge, as the one class he wanted to take this semester, Honors History and Literature of the Theater, had the following note in the syllabus:

Students are expected to collaborate online with other class members for a group project and regular discussion.

When shifting to the online approach to college, Jaebeom had made special arrangements with the Dean of Students to have his identification changed to a pseudonym to decrease the chances of others accessing his personal email and interacting with him on line because of who he was. Though the Dean would credit him for the classes taken, as far as the professors and other students knew there was no Im Jaebeom in the class, but rather a student by the name of Ki Dal Po. Yes, that name was a combination of the two names of the character played by Lee Jong Suk in the K Drama "Pinocchio, but no one seemed to notice. Jaebeom, with his wicked sense of humor, thought it fitting that he be named after someone who was going by a pseudonym too.

Jaebeom's pseudonym, however, would serve no purpose if his face was seen or his voice was heard. Jaebeom knew that fans would be able to identify him even if he had on a hat, mask and glasses, none of which would be acceptable to wear during on line class discussions via snap chat or Skype. His voice alone was distinctive enough for someone who cared to figure out who he was. Jaebeom had a unique speaking voice that was deep in tone, with words that were spoken quickly. Though he was a stickler for proper pronunciation, he often appeared to slur his words, or so it seemed, as one word seemed to slide effortlessly into the next leaving the listener wonder where one ended ant the other began. Pondering this dilemma, Jaebeom joined the chatroom for the class to see if there was a possible way to get around doing the video or audio chats with his classmates. Scanning through the comments of the students who were considering the course, Jaebeom stumbled upon the following comment:

_//Hi! My name is Im Na Ra. Is there going to be a problem completing the requirements of the group activity if I only have access to a Blackberry? It basically means I'm limited to text chats and no Video or audio.//_

Elated, Jaebeom quickly replied:

_//I have the same issue. Blackberry and no money to upgrade. Maybe the two of us could partner up so we won't slow down the interaction of the other students? Shall we ask the Professor if this would work? I really need and want this class.//_

Truth be told, Jaebeom had the latest model of the iPhone. It had ALL the features, though he rarely used them even on a good day. He did chat with the other members, in a closed group snapchat, from time to time and used his phone for Vlive events, but he was not really comfortable with those formats on a good day, so this seemed like the perfect out even if he hadn't been concerned with exposing his identity.

After a few back and forth's with Na Ra-ssi and the Professor, it was settled that the two of them would be online partners. Formalizing the deal, Jaebeom, AKA Dal Po, signed up for the class.

Over the course of the next several months, Jaebeom and Na Ra-ssi, completed several projects, all well before deadline too. Na Ra was an excellent student, very organized, and extremely passionate. She was well read and discussed many books outside of the course readings with Jaebeom. When there was a need to read and critique the work of other students as part of the class participation portion of the grade, Jaebeom made a point of selecting her work as one of the two he had to review. With only 10 people in the class, each student was allocated only two people to review their work. On one occasion, Jaebeom was late in signing up and missed his chance to be one of the two to review her work. Nonetheless, he reviewed two other people's papers as was required and still read Na Ra's essay as well. Hers was by far the best of the three.

Though Na Ra didn't always review his essays, Jaebeom noticed that she did frequently select his work to review. This brought him a secret pleasure, as he hoped she appreciated his work and efforts as much as he did hers. He found himself anxious to see if she was reviewing his work and was disappointed those few times that she didn't select his. He longed to know what she thought of his work and found himself feeling jealous of those she reviewed instead of him. These feelings were shared once with Jinyoung who comments, "Sounds like you're a jealous boyfriend. Do you have a thing for this girl or something?'

Truth be told, Jaebeom had to admit that he was falling for this girl. Her mind, her creativity, her insight drew him in and challenged him to reach new heights. She was eloquent, but she was blunt and had very clear opinions about things. She never waffled or hedged. If she didn't know something, she would say so and then go look it up, research it, and formulate an opinion. There were a couple of times where Jaebeom found himself at the opposite spectrum of a debate with Na Ra, and thought he discussion often became heated and charged with strong words and pointed comments, one or the other would step up and convince the other to change their position. Jaebeom laughed to himself as he saw this akin to intellectual foreplay and longed for these exchanges with this witty and wise girl.

In addition to class work, Jaebeom and Na Ra communicated about other things on line through text as well. Though he kept his identity a secret, he did say he was very busy and traveled a great deal and was the head of his department. Okay, it was a bit of a stretch, but the fundamentals were about the same anyway. Na Ra divulged very little in the way of personal details, other than the fact that she spoke several languages and also had traveled extensively. Where she came from, how old she was, and details like that were never mentioned. Jaebeom assumed she was his age or a bit younger given that he was taking fewer classes per semester because of his work and she had mentioned four other classes she was working on, also on line. Over the course of the semester, his affection for his classmate grew. He knew how she thought, what her dreams and aspirations were, and could tell from her writing when she was despondent or happy.

Na Ra, likewise, was able to tell when Jaebeom was stressed out, encouraged him when he was down, and cheered for him when he related that his team had a successful project. They shared a love for books, music, and musicals, often launching into text dialogue from various plays that were akin to reenactments of scenes or whole productions just for the fun of it.

As the semester was wrapping up, the students in the class started chatting in the group chatroom about meeting up for drinks and some food. This was totally out of the question for Jaebeom, so he begged off, only sad because he would have liked to have met Na Ra in person. He wasn't too surprised when Na Ra said she wouldn't make it either. On the spur of the moment he sent her a text:

_//I'm not big on group get togethers. Want to meet at a café bookstore? I'll be there tonight at 8pm. Address below. Come if you can.//_

He was floored though when she sent him a text that neither confirmed nor denied that she we meet him:

_//I've really enjoyed our online collaborations, and the insight you have given when commenting on my papers has helped me to improve my writing and analysis. I wish you the very best with your studies. It looks like this will be my last semester here as funds are short and working is the only option for me. I hope someday that I'll see your name on a play or film as the producer or director. I'll be looking for it and will be cheering for you from afar, even if you never know it. All the best. INR.//_

Though Jaebeom replied and asked specifically if she was going to show up, his comment was left without a response. He went to the café bookstore that night just in case. He arrived early to make sure he wouldn't miss her. Though he had no idea what she looked like, he was convinced that he would know her instantly. He waited until closing and was finally kicked out. Only two couples had shown up in the meantime; definitely not Im Na Ra as she'd never mentioned or hinted at having a boyfriend and her communication with him had, from time to time, been responsive to his banal attempts at flirtation.

After that last communication from Na Ra, Jaebeom didn't hear from her again. He tried texting her directly many a time, but she never read his messages. He once contemplated calling her. He even dialed her number, only to be met with a message that the phone was turned off.

Had she really disappeared like that? Was there no way to reach her? Finally, almost in an act of desperation, under his SoundCloud account, Jaebeom composed a song for INR. His hope was that she would hear about it and reply to his messaged. He included coded messages that only she would pick up on if she heard they lyrics. Unfortunately, nothing came of it. He even reached out via text to others who'd been in the class to see if they knew of her whereabouts, only to be left with more dead-ends.

Jaebeom never deleted the texts messages he'd exchanged with Na Ra. Regularly he would read through them to see if there was a clue. Anything that would give him a clue to help him locate her or find out why she'd cut off communication so abruptly. One day, as he was reading through his text history when he received notice that Na Ra had opened and read his texts from the past year.

Immediately, Jaebeom sent another text:

_//Please contact me! Why haven't you read my texts? Are you okay? I've been worried.//_

Jaebeom hit send and waited. Nothing. This was driving him crazy. Why wasn't she responding? He'd always worried about her, but now he started second guessing himself too.

"Did I do something to offend her? Did she find out who I was and feel that I'd lied to her? Was it possible that this was it? A breach of trust would be hard to remedy if the other person wouldn't communicate."

After an hour and no response, Jaebeom started getting angry. Known for his temper, he started throwing things and cursing as he stomped around the dorm. Odd and Kunta escaped under the bed for safety, while Nora first took a swipe at him to show her displeasure in him before darting being the sofa out of range. Silly kitties still didn't know that they calmed him in times like this, though he couldn't blame them for taking cover "just in case."

"Who the hell does she think she is? Does she think I've nothing better to do than wait for her to respond to my texts?" he fumed, knowing he would be waiting as long as it took. This girl was under his skin, in his heart and in his mind.

In a last ditch effort, Jaebeom sent another text:

_//I'll be waiting at the café I mentioned last year. I'm heading there now and should be there in about 40 minutes. If you can, meet me there. Though I don't know what you look like, so just in case, I'll be wearing a red hoodie so you can spot me easily. That way you can decide if you want to approach or not. I have a secret I need – no I want – to share with you. My real name is not Dal Po. I never meant to deceive you. I wanted to tell you this a year ago but never got the chance. Check out this link. I think you'll figure it out.//_

With that, Jaebeom added the link to the song he'd uploaded to SoundCloud many months earlier and began getting ready to head out. Grabbing a taxi, he headed for the café bookstore on the outskirts of town. This place had become his favorite over the past several months. It somehow reminded him of Na Ra and made him feel closer to her. It must have been all the books and the soft R&B music interspersed with show tunes that conjured up those feelings.

Opening the door to the café, Jaebeom was greeted by the barista who had always respected his need for privacy. A simple wave and an unspoken understanding that he wanted an ice Americano was all that passed between them. She never said much, she always gave him his space. Often he found that the books he checked out had been read by her. He was impressed as she was not Korean. She had startlingly blue eyes and soft brown hair that framed her face in pleasant way. She was probably a little younger than Jaebeom's age. Her name tag read Wendy and he reflected that her Korean must have been pretty great to comprehend the complex subject matter of the books he regularly gravitated towards.

Settling into a large arm chair, Jaebeom sipped his drink through a straw and reflected that Na Ra would probably also enjoy the books he and the barista read. Glancing at the door on a regular basis but seeing no one enter, Jaebeom turned towards the counter and noted that Wendy was no longer at the counter but standing to the side having been relieved by another employee. She must have just finished work as she was reading a text message that apparently had come in while she was working. She looked up from her phone and stared right at Jaebeom, before dipping her head and madly replying to the sender.

Just then Jaebeom's phone indicated that he had an incoming message. Looking down he read the contents:

_//I have a secret too. I don't have a Blackberry. I didn't want anyone to know, but I'm not really Im Na Ra. I'm not even Korean.//_

As realization hit Jaebeom, his head jerked up from the screen on his phone as he locked eyes with Wendy who was slowly walking towards him with a shy smile on her face.

 


End file.
